Inspection windows are cut or formed into the tail section of the flexure circuit tail in a hard disk drive Head Gimbal Assembly (HGA), or CIS, to enable visual inspection of the alignment of the CIS to the head preamp circuit, or FPC. The holes are made in the steel backing and base polyimide, and are positioned between adjacent conductive pads. In addition to facilitating visual inspection, the windows also enable rework of solder. Additionally, solder wicking holes may also be provided in the conductive pads and/or the polyimide and steel backing.
Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
1. A circuit integrated suspension (CIS) comprising: a steel backing layer; an insulating layer provided over the steel backing layer; a conductive circuitry provided over the insulating layer; inspection cutouts provided in the steel backing layer and in the insulating layer, said inspection cutouts located to enable visual inspection of selected areas of the conductive circuitry; wherein the inspection cutouts are of sufficient width such that alignment of the CIS with a flexible printed circuit (FPC) can be visually confirmed through the inspection cutouts after soldering is conducted; wherein the FPC comprises FPC conductive pads and an FPC substrate layer, wherein the FPC substrate layer is visible through the inspection cutouts after soldering is conducted.
2. The CIS of claim 1 , wherein said steel backing layer comprises stainless steel.
3. The CIS of claim 2 wherein said insulating layer comprises polyimide.
4. The CIS of claim 3 wherein said conductive circuitry comprises copper.
5. The CIS of claim 1 , further comprising solder-wicking holes provided in the conductive circuitry.
6. The CIS of claim 1 , wherein the conductive circuitry comprises conductive pads and wherein the insulating layer is narrower than the conductive pads.
7. The CIS of claim 1 , wherein the conductive circuitry comprises conductive pads and the cutouts are sized so as to expose edges of the conductive pads.
8. The CIS of claim 1 , wherein the cutouts are rectangular.
9. The CIS of claim 1 , wherein the cutouts are circular.
10. A combination circuit integrated suspension (CIS) and flexible printed circuit (FPC), comprising: a CIS comprising a CIS steel backing layer, a CIS insulating layer provided over the CIS steel backing layer, and a plurality of CIS conductive pads provided over the CIS insulating layer; an FPC comprising an FPC insulating layer and a plurality of FPC conductive pads; wherein selected ones of the plurality of CIS conductive pads are soldered to corresponding ones of the plurality of FPC conductive pads, and wherein inspection cutouts are provided in the CIS steel backing layer and in the CIS insulating layer to enable visual inspection of at least some of the selected ones of the plurality of CIS conductive pads that are soldered to the corresponding ones of the plurality of FPC conductive pads; wherein the inspection cutouts are of sufficient width such that alignment of the selected ones of the plurality of CIS conductive pads and the corresponding ones of the plurality of FPC conductive pads can be visually confirmed through the inspection cutouts after soldering is conducted; wherein the FPC insulating layer is visible through the inspection cutouts after soldering is conducted.
11. The combination of claim 10 , wherein the cutouts are sized so as to expose edges of the plurality of CIS conductive pads.
12. The combination of claim 10 , wherein the cutouts are rectangular.
13. A method for manufacturing circuit integrated suspension (CIS) comprising: providing a steel backing layer; providing an insulating layer over the steel backing layer; providing a plurality of CIS conductive pads over the insulating layer for soldering on to corresponding flexible printed circuit (FPC) conductive pads; providing cutouts in the insulating layer to enable visual inspection of at least some of the plurality of contact pads; wherein the cutouts in the insulating layer are of sufficient width such that alignment of the plurality of CIS conductive pads and the corresponding FPC conductive pads can be visually confirmed through the cutouts after the soldering is conducted; wherein an FPC substrate layer disposed beneath the corresponding FPC conductive pads is visible through the cutouts after soldering is conducted.
14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the cutouts are sized so as to expose edges of the plurality of CIS conductive pads.
15. A method for manufacturing a combination of circuit integrated suspension (CIS) and flexible printed circuit FPC, comprising: providing a CIS steel backing layer; providing a CIS insulating layer over the CIS steel backing layer; providing a plurality of CIS conductive pads over the CIS insulating layer; providing cutouts in the CIS insulating layer to enable visual inspection of at least some of the plurality of CIS conductive pads; providing an FPC comprising an FPC insulating layer and a plurality of FPC conductive pads; soldering at least selected ones of the plurality of CIS conductive pads to corresponding ones of the plurality of FPC conductive pads; inspecting the quality of the soldering via the cutouts; wherein the cutouts in the CIS insulating layer are of sufficient width such that alignment of the selected ones of the plurality of CIS conductive pads and the corresponding ones of the plurality of FPC conductive pads can be visually confirmed through the cutouts after soldering is conducted; wherein the FPC insulating layer is visible through the cutouts after soldering is conducted.
16. The combination of claim 15 , wherein the cutouts are sized so as to expose edges of the plurality of CIS conductive pads.
17. The method of claim 15 , wherein the plurality of FPC conductive pads and the plurality of CIS conductive pads are dog bone shaped.
18. A method for manufacturing circuit integrated suspension (CIS) comprising: fabricating a combination of insulation layer sandwiched between a backing layer and a conductive pads layer, the conductive pads layer comprising a plurality of CIS conductive pads for soldering on to corresponding FPC pads; fabricating cut-out holes in the combination to enable visual inspection of the conductive pads layer from the backing layer side; wherein the cut-out holes are of sufficient width such that alignment of the plurality of CIS conductive pads and the corresponding FPC conductive pads can be visually confirmed through the cut-out holes after soldering is conducted; wherein an FPC substrate layer disposed beneath the corresponding FPC conductive pads is visible through the cutouts after soldering is conducted.
19. The method of claim 18 , wherein the cut-out holes are cut in the backing layer and in the insulation layer.
20. The method of claim 19 , further comprising fabricating solder-wicking holes in the conductive pads layer.
Cooperative Patent Classification codes for this invention. Click any code to explore related patents in that topic.
October 19, 2007
May 8, 2012
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